Apparatus for continuously cleaning railway ballast



' June 4, 1935;.V M. H. LEMAIRE APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLI CLEANINGRAILWAY BALLAST Filed Aug. 5, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet l y Afm i2 @ya I'/NVENTO/ gy, MM

June 4, 1935. u M, H LEMAlRE 2,004,051

APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY CLEANING RAILWAY BALLAST Filed Aug. 5, 1933 5Sheets-Sheet 2 /Nvemrao fi June 4, 1935. M H EMMR 2,004,051

APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY CLEANING RAILWAY BALLAST Filed Aug. 5, 1953 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 4, 1935 APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY CLEAN-ING RAILWAY BALLAST Maurice VHenri Lemaire, Paris, France ApplicationAugust 5, 1933, Serial No. 683,845 In France August 11, 1932 claims.(o1. 37-104) The invention relates to an apparatus for carrying Voutcontinuously the `stripping of `railway tracks of their ballast, thecleaning of the ballast and the replacement of the rails on the --5cleaned ballast. `The apparatus consists in essence of a long rigid beammounted at its extremities on two bogies which run on the track itselfto be treated and carrying at its middle part one or more excavatorswhich pass under the track while the latter is raised above the ballast.The ballast removed by the excavators is taken to a screen from whichthe cleaned material falls back between the sleepers of the track and isspread by an equalizing and levelling arrangement, and the combinedapparatus advances continuously along the track while the excavatorscarry out their operations as if the rails and sleepers were not there.

Such a method was described in my Patent No. 1,899,874 and the presentinvention is directed to a new constructional form of vthe apparatus for`putting this method into practice. f

The new apparatus exhibits several character` istie features which willbe mentioned in the following description and will be detailedhereinafter.' I

The accompanying drawings illustrate the apparatusaccording to theinvention and therein Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation of theapparatus complete,

Figure 2 is a transverse section of the excavator I taken on the lineI-Iof Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a transverse section of excavator 2 `in travelling' positiontaken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, I

Figure 4 is diagrammatic section similar to .Figure 2 but with thebuckets moved sideways,

Figure 5 is a plan on a larger scale of the part vof the excavatoroperating under the track,

40 Figure `6 is a longitudinal section' taken` on the line 3--3 ofFigure 5, f Y

Figure 7 isa transverse sectiontaken on'the line 4-4 of Figure 5,

Figure 8 is a detail view showing parts of the buckets at the upper partof theexcavator, and

Figures 9 and 10 show details in elevation and plan respectively of theroller guiding device for 'the track in operation on a curve.

As will be seen from the drawings the new apparatus 4comprises forexample two excavators VI and 2; the rst is shown in operative position(Figures 1 and 2) while thesecond is` shown in 'travelling position(Figures 1 and 3).

y The ballast removed by the excavators is tipped into the feedinghoppers of a belt A conveyor 3 .an important new result which isthelfollowing.

which takes the ballast to the rear to feeda belt elevator 4 withtransverse ights which tips the material on to a vibrating screen 5. f

The refuse and the dust are caught under the screen by another beltconveyor 6 and discharged 5 either on to a conveyor -I to load wagonsbehind the apparatus or on to a transverse conveyor 8 which depositsthem beside the track.

The cleaned ballast is returned to the road by chutes 9 and is spread bya levelling and equal- 10 izing device I0 similar to those alreadydescribed in the above-mentioned patent specification.

Each excavator can move as a whole in the following three ways:- l

1. Vertical movement is provided to make it possible to regulate thedepth to which the ballast is removed by means of a structure I4 shownin Figure 1,\which carries the excavator and slides vertically in afixed frame I5 fast with the bracing of the beam P. The verticalmovement of themoving frame is vcarried out by an electric motor I6actuating lifting screws'I'I (Figs. 1 and 3) by means of worm reductiongear and bevel gear I8.

2. Transverse movement, that is to say in a direction perpendiculartothe track, is provided to permit the excavator to remain centred onthe centre line of the track when working on a curvef For this purposeeach excavator is supported on the frame I4 through the intermediary ofa second structure I9 which is moved by means of a Vroller device onhorizontal rolling tracks 20 (Fig. 4) carried by the structure I4.

The transverse movement is effected by a hand-wheel 2| andtransmitted byworm reduction gear and spur gears engaging a rack 22 fixed on thetransverse frame I9 (Figs. -1 and 4). 3.fFinally, the tension Vof thechain is ensured by an electric motor 23 (Fig. 2) driving two screwspindles 24 which raise or lower the upper part of the excavator inrelation to the complete transverse structure I9 by making it pivotabout an axis 25 iixed to this structure (Fig. 2).

In accordance with the'invention each excav-vatorl comprises two chainsI Ia, I Ib, which carry buckets II (Fig. 2) each attached thereto'by alateral face and whichare guided when passing Aunder the track by twolateral chain guides I2 (Fig. 7) embracing-the buckets and bracedtogether to form a frame which supports two longitudinal sliders orskates I3, on which the sleepers of the track are supported (Figs. 2, 3,5, 6 and -7 This arrangement makes it possible to obtain If theexcavator is raised or lowered vertically the track is raised or loweredto the same extent. The chain guides play a double part, firstly that ofguiding the buckets under the track so as to obtain a flat road bed, andsecondly to carry and lift the track in a continuous manner during themovement of the apparatus along the track, as the sleepers slide bytheir under surfaces on the skates carried by chain guides.

The arrangement of the chain guide frame which has just been describedhas the advantage ci being simple and of making it possible to ob--'tain in operation the minimum distance between the underside of thesleepers and the upper edge of the buckets during the progress of theapparatus along the track without any risk of the buckets catching inthe sleepers, Y v

For a particular type of bucket working. `at a particular depth of cutthere is thus obtained the minimum height of lift of the track." Now, itis very important to reduce thisheight to a minimum Vfor a given lengthof the apparatus between inner axles, i. e. those nearest eachother toreduce the stresses to which the rails are subjected.

The bucket chains of the excavators are driven by two sprockets 26,(Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4) keyed on a shaft which receives its movement from anelectric motor 2 by means of a power limiter and spur gears. They run attheir lower part on guide sprockets 28 (Fig. 2). v

The buckets H have on their base at the forward side picks 29.V A As thechains are subjected during operation to a combined movement of progressalong the track due tothe translation of the whole apparatus androtation about the shafts 2B and 28, it results therefrom that the picks29 engage a ,horizontal slide of ballast disintegrating it and directingit into the interior of the buckets and making it pass under thestructure ofthe forward chain guide (Figs. 5, 6, 7). The picksprojectbeyond therforward part of the fr cnt chain guide (Fig. 7) insuch a manner that a horizontal slice of ballast can be engaged over aheight greater than the free space existing between the bottom of thechain guide and 4the bottom of the out without the possibility vof theballast jamming in iront against the chain guide or against the lateralface of the buckets.

This arrangement contributes to lthe possibility oi reducing the raisingof the track to a minimum for a given depth of cut.

As the buckets emerge beyond the track they pass in front` of a shield`,30 of cylindro-conical shape (Figs. 2, 5, 6) concave forwards, in sucha manner that towards the vfront of thebuckets there is a suitable space3| betweenV the buckets and the shield, and towards the rear of thebuckets this space 32 is practically zero (Fig, 6)

The ballast which the buckets push in iront of themselves arrives in theshield, rises along the shield partly flowing backwardsso to ll thebuckets completely Vover their whole length due to the conical form ofthe shield.

This arrangement makes it possible to constructanV excavator of largeoutput `comprising buckets elongated in the longitudinal direction ofthe ytrack and comparatively narrow, so that the ballast can be Yremovedfrom the track in a comparatively thin layer with only a small height flift of the track under the machine.

The reactions due to the forward movement of Y .the bucketsin theballast are absorbed by rollers 33 with vertical axes/(Figs. 5 and 7)mounted in the rear chain guide.

The bottom 34 of the buckets is inclined as may be seen from Figure 8,and the buckets are so spaced that the emptying of the ballast from abucket is made against the bottom of the preceding bucket. Due to theparticular inclination of the bottom the ballast is guided into thecharging hopper 35 of the belt conveyor.

This arrangement is particularly advantageous for obtaining an excavatorof large output with closely spaced buckets at a high speed of rotationand nevertheless tipping the ballast within the chains at an angle ofdeflection suitable for the ballast to fall into the charging hoppersituated' vertically under the top sprocket (26) of the excavator. Y

"There remains to be explained how the apparatus is put into operationand how it is set into position for travelling.

Each excavator has lateral arms 4D pivoted on axes' Mcarried by theexcavator frame. The lower extremities of these arms may be coupled tothe chain guides I2 in the position of Figure 2.

To pass from the operating position, Fig. 2, to the travelling position,Fig. 3, the first operation is to cut the excavator chains into twoportionsas may be understood from Figure 3. Then the arms 45 are raisedso that the folded apparatus comes within the loading gauge G of thetrack (Fig. 3).

The raising of the arms 40 can be carried out automatically by means ofchains 44, one extremity of which is xed at 45 and the other extremityof which is attached at 42 to the arms 40. When the excavator is raisedthe chain 44 is pulled and causes the arms to pivot, bringing them backto the position shown in Figure 3.

The chain guides and the buckets located in the chain guides Vremainunder the track until the resumption of operations. So as not to cause aloss of level in the prole along the track at the end of a period ofVwork the precaution is taken before thus abandoning the chain guides tolower the excavator to its full extent to completely submerge the chainguides under the unraised track so Vthat the track can resume itsposition. j Y

Moving to the operating position is carried out in the inverse manner.

It isv obvious that at the commencement of an operation the chain guidesand the corresponding part of the bucket chain are previously placedunder. the track by-any suitable means.

On curves the track is maintained in place, if it tends to becomedisplaced, by an arrangement Awhich can be pressed hard against theinner edge of the right hand or left hand rail according to thedirection 4of the curvature.

'I'his arrangement comprises a roller 50 (Fig. 1). Figures 9 and 10 showthe details of this arrangement. The roller U which presses againstV.the inner edge of the rail 55 is mounted at the end of an arm 5l whichcan rotate about an axis 52 integral with the principal'beam, therotation of the arm about this axis being eiected by Va. wheel 53.

The track is kept in its place by the simultaneous action of the rollers49 integral with the excavator (Fig. 2) and by the roller 50.

It will be seen for Yexample that the more the angle a (Fig. diminishesthe more the track is pushed sideways in the direction of the arrow.

. VThe above arrangements are only given by way of example, the form,dimensions, materials employed and 4all detail arrangements may. varywithout altering the principle of the invention.

What is claimed is: v

1. In an apparatus for cleaning railway ballast consisting of a beammoving along the track, track elevators carried by the said beam,endless excavators including chains and buckets surrounding the beam andthe rails, improvements for increasing the output comprising tracksupports proper for guiding the excavator chains, implements integralwith excavator buckets laterally thereof, a shield at the outlet of theexcavation, the buckets each having an inclined bottom for deflectingduring its discharge the ballast contained in the next bucket.

2. In an apparatus for cleaning railway ballast consisting of a beammoving along the track, track elevators carried by the said beam,endless excavators including chains and buckets surrounding the beam andthe rails, improvements for increasing the output comprising rigid chainguides integral with longitudinal sliders on which the sleepers aresupported, implements integral with excavator buckets laterally thereof,a shield at the outlet of the excavation, and the buckets each having aninclined bottom for deilecting during its discharge the ballastcontained in the next bucket.

3. In an apparatus for cleaning railway ballast consisting of a beammoving along the track, track elevators carried by the said beam,endless excavators including chains and buckets surrounding the beam andthe rails, improvements for increasing the output comprising tracksupports proper for guiding the excavator chains, picks carried by theexcavators laterally thereof and directed towards the front in thedirection of travel of the chain, a shield at the outlet of theexcavation, and the buckets each having an inclined bottom fordeflecting during its discharge the ballast contained in the nextbucket.

4. In an apparatus for cleaning railway ballast consisting of a beammoving along the track, track elevators carried by the said beam,endless excavators including chains and buckets surrounding the beam andthe rails, improvements for increasing the output comprising tracksupports proper for guiding the excavator chains, implements integralwith excavator buckets laterally thereof, a shield at the outlet of theexcavation, the buckets each having an inclined bottom for deflectingduring its discharge the ballast contained in the next bucket, anarrangement with rollers integral with the beam, the rollers rollingagainst the inner edges of the rails of the track to be cleaned, andresilient means pressing the said rollers against the track.

5. In an apparatus for cleaning railway ballast consisting of a beammoving along the track, track elevators carried by the said beam,endless excavators including chains and buckets surrounding the beam andthe rails, improvements for increasing the output comprising tracksupports proper for guiding the excavator chains, implements integralwith excavator buckets laterally thereof, a shield at the outlet of theexcavation, the buckets each having an inclined bottom for deiiectingduring its discharge the ballast contained in the next bucket, an armpivoted to the truck between the bogies, and a roller at the end of thesaid arm and bearing against one of the rails of the track to becleaned.

MAURICE HENRI LEMAIRE.

